The Presents of Lian Harper
by JudeDeluca
Summary: Lian peeks at her Christmas gifts, Roy makes a startling realization, and Lian does something she thought she'd never do.


Disclaimer: Characters owned by DC and Marvel Comics.

Set in Levy Rasputin's Earth-618 continuity.

* * *

**The Presents of Lian Harper**

She slowly removed the cover of the box, and caught a glimpse of black fabric, when-

"LIAN!"

Roy Harper, a well-muscled, fair skinned redhead yelled at his young, black-haired, Asian daughter.

"Daddy!" Lian yelped in surprise as she turned around to see her father standing in front of her as she was standing inside his closet, holding a red box in her hands. Roy was looking pissed as hell, his arms folded across his chest and scowling. Lian nervously laughed, clutching the box to her chest. "Uh, I was, uh-"

"You couldn't wait, could you? Christmas is only three days away, and you couldn't wait." Roy solemnly stated as Lian walked out of the closet. Lian gulped.

"I'm sorry, daddy-"

"Sorry would imply that you hadn't meant to do it." Roy cut off her attempt to apologize. "If that's the case what were you doing in my closet?"

"I, um, needed a, a...", Lian wracked her brain thinking of an excuse, but one couldn't spring to mind. "I couldn't wait, I'm sorry!" Lian apologized. Roy sighed.

"Whatever, you already ruined the surprise, might as well open it now." Roy told her.

"No, wait, Daddy-"

"No no, go on, open it." Roy waved off any further apology.

Realizing her father meant it, Lian placed the box on his bed and opened it. Inside, there appeared to be something made of red and black fabric, but it felt heavy as she picked it up.

"*Gasp* Is this-?" Lian couldn't believe what she was holding.

"Yep." Roy clarified.

Lian was holding a miniature version of the fourth costume he wore as Arsenal, during the time when he was a member of the Outsiders.

"An Arsenal costume. For my collection?" Lian inquired, as she had a large collection of superhero costumes for playing around.

"For training." Roy told her.

"You mean, this is real armor?" Lian couldn't believe it. It did feel heavier then one of her regular costumes.

"You haven't said what kind of costume you wanted yet, so I thought this could be a good preliminary." Roy smiled as he explained his intention. "Merry Christmas, baby."

"Oh daddy." Lian smiled as she hugged the costume, then hugged him. "Wait here."

Lian put the costume back in the box, ran out of the room, and moments later returned with a shopping bag in her grasp.

"Here daddy." She shoved the bag into his arms.

"Lian? What's this?" Roy asked.

"I figured since I opened one of my gifts early you can open one of yours from me." Lian smiled.

"You don't have to do that Princess." Roy told her, attempting to hand the bag back.

"Yes I do. It's only fair, especially since you wanted it to be a surprise. Take it, I didn't wrap it yet." Lian explained. "And merry Christmas."

Roy conceded and took the contents of the bag out. Whatever it was felt soft and was wrapped in dark green tissue paper.

"What is..." Roy asked before removing the tissue paper to reveal, "a Hawaiian shirt."

Roy held up a a Hawaiian shirt that had a depiction of a cloudless blue sky, below it some palm trees on a beach. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel, thinking of his daughter's oddball sense of humor. Lian's smile faltered a bit.

"...what? You don't like it? If you don't I can always-"

"No it's not that." Roy cut her off. "I like it, but, Lian, this isn't supposed to be another fat joke, is it?" The reasoning behind Roy's question was that, despite being in shape, Roy had a small belly after some time in the hospital, and Lian enjoyed making snarky jokes aimed at his weight. And Hawaiian shirts were usually associated with fat people for some odd reason.

Lian's jaw dropped and she looked incredibly insulted.

"Daddy! I am shocked and appalled that you would think that!" She shouted. Roy immediately felt bad.

"Crap, honey, I didn't mean-"

"Are you implying that I have lost so much creativity when it comes to my sense of humor I would resort to spending money? The very fact that you would assume that I have to stoop so low and so desperately as to rely on prop comedy, PROP COMEDY, like some redneck comedian or ADHD-riddled grade schooler just to make fun of your weight is like a dagger through my heart, good sir! My! HEAAAAAAAART! *Faints*"

After ending her rant Lian "fainted" on Roy's carpeted bedroom floor. He blankly stared at his daughter.

"...you're such a ham, Lian." Roy finally smirked.

"Takes one to know one." Lian said, opening up one eye to look up at her dad from the floor. "But seriously? No. I just thought the colors looked good on you."

...

A few moments later, Roy and Lian were both getting into their new clothes.

"Lian, you said 'one of'. Lian you didn't go nuts shopping for me, did you?" Roy called to Lian as she was getting dressed.

"No daddy, I just bought you a few things. I do have other people to worry about." Lian reminded him.

"Well okay. You done?" Roy asked.

"Yep." Lian told him.

She walked out of the bathroom and into his bedroom.

"Oh man, Lian, look at you." Roy said, quiet pride in his voice at his daughter and her armor.

There she was, dressed as a miniature Arsenal. And it wasn't pretend. She didn't look like a 12-year old. She looked grown-up. Like she was a woman now.

_Soon she'll be a Teen Titan and leading her own team and then she would be picking her own name and joining the Justice League and having a child with an international assassin and raising it by herse-_

"You look amazing, Lian." Roy gushed.

"Thanks daddy." Lian twirled around. "Hey, how come it didn't have a mask."

"I didn't know if you'd prefer a mask or sunglasses. Here. Get a better look at yourself." Roy opened the wardrobe that belonged to his girlfriend, Sooraya Qadir, so Lian could see herself in the full-sized mirror on the other side of the door.

"It feels so light." Lian commented while looking at her reflection. "Do you like your shirt?" She asked.

"Yeah, I do, thanks." Roy told her. The shirt did feel comfortable and the blue in the shirt went with his red hair.

"Strike a pose." Lian suggested.

Lian stepped aside and watched as her dad struck a couple of body-builder poses, flexing his arm muscles and grunting.

"Looking good, daddy." Lian commented.

"Thanks pumpkin." Roy turned his gaze to her for a moment, then back to his reflection. Then he noticed something was off.

"Uh, hey, Lian? Quick question." Roy said.

"Yeah?" Lian asked.

"Um, do you, uh, remember, by any chance, when this began to stick out?"

Lian noticed that Roy's stomach now began to stick out one or two inches. Or three. He felt the top of his chest, which had not turned soft or boob-like, thank God. But he squeezed his mid-section and was, mentally, shocked at soft it became, and that it shook a bit.

"Nice wonder gut, daddy." Lian joked.

"Oh crap. When did this happen?" Roy quietly asked himself. Lian began listing the possibilities.

"Uh, well, there WAS the leftover Halloween candy, and then there was Thanksgiving, and the day after Thanksgiving, and then all the current Christmas sweets and foods over the last few weeks, and-"

Every thing Lian listed felt like another nail in his coffin.

"Thanks, that's enough. I guess you're right, Lian. I am fat." Roy said dejectedly.

Lian mentally sighed in relief as her dad finally admitted it, thanks to her shirt, then she saw something odd as well.

"Hey, um, when did you get these marks?" Lian commented as she took Roy's hands. She gazed upon what appeared to be small pinpricks over his fingers.

"Oh. Yeah. I kept pricking myself with the needles."

"Needles?" He couldn't possibly mean heroin needles. Who would honestly inject heroin into their fingers? The only other needles that made sense to what he was talking about was a sewing needle. "You, you made this by hand?"

"Well, yeah, where do you think I got mine? But, Sooraya did help me a lot." Roy told her.

Lian couldn't believe it. There was no hint at all that her costume was homemade. How long did it take to make it? How long did he have this planned? And she ruined the surprise. Not only that, but just as Roy had felt bad about "insulting" Lian, Lian now felt bad that he put so much effort into his gift to her, and her gift had just turned into another joke.

So she did something she thought she'd never do.

"...well, daddy, it's only normal. People have a habit to put on a couple of pounds during the holidays. Don't worry, it doesn't make you fat. You can get rid of it after Christmas is over. Relax."

Roy's jaw dropped and he stared at Lian with a shocked expression.

"Besides, there's nothing wrong with having a belly. It just means you eat well and you're healthy. And it is winter. The weight can keep you warm. But your arms, daddy. And those shoulders. Those muscles! You're built like a rock, daddy. You're a giant. You could snap someone's neck with your bare hands if you wanted." Lian smiled quiet perkily as she mentioned how her dad could kill someone because of how strong and healthy he was.

"...who the HELL are YOU and what did you do with my daughter?"

Lian smirked and struck a pose.

"I'm Arsenal II." Lian felt good about cheering her dad up. Of course, that was only lasting until New Year's.

"And I think I'm gonna cry." Roy said, actually teary-eyed and proud.

"Daddy, knock it off. Come on, I wanna try my armor out. Can we blow some stuff up?" Lian tugged at her dad's arm.

"Okay honey, let's go blow some dummies up." Roy told her.

"Yay! This is the best Christmas ever!"

"Uh, technically it's Christmas Eve Eve Eve."

"Then this is the best Christmas Eve Eve Eve!"


End file.
